MEA Ramsay Research Fund to fund new research into the role of transcription factors in ME/CFS

by tonybritton on March 31, 2011:

The ME Association is very pleased to announce that trustees have approved funding for an important new research study that will be investigating the role of what are called transcription factors in ME/CFS.

The research, which has been thoroughly peer reviewed over the past two months, will be carried out by Dr Abhijit Chaudhuri, Professor Peter Behan, Professor John Gow, Professor Chris Hillier, and Simone Hutchinson at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Dr Abhijit Chaudhuri and Professor Peter Behan are neurologists with an impressive clinical and research involvement in relation to ME/CFS. Professor John Gow has carried out extensive research into the virology of ME/CFS (enteroviral infection in particular) as well as the role of gene expression in ME/CFS: www.meassociation.org.uk/?p=642

Professor Chris Hillier, who is Professor of Physiology at GCU, is a leading expert in disease mechanisms at a cellular and molecular level in cardiovascular, metabolic and genetic disease, and brings fresh thinking in the area of biotechnology to the ME/CFS research agenda. Simone Hutchinson will be the research assistant on the project.

Transcription factors are complicated proteins that act at a cellular level. They are released in a cascade fashion following harmful stimuli such as infections, trauma, exposure to toxins and drugs and form a key part of the body’s initial defensive response. They also help to regulate gene expression – in simple terms they assist in the process of ‘switching on’ genes and the activities they control. Read more>>

Drug Companies Overestimate Cost of Developing a New Drug by merely $1.26 Billion

from the and-there-you-go dept:

It's one of those numbers that comes up every single time we talk about the pharma industry: the claim that it costs $1.3 billion for pharma companies to develop a new drug.

In fact, in our recent discussion on the FDA banning drugs that have been on the market for decades, it didn't take someone long to toss out such a number (they used $1.2 billion, but $1.3 billion is the "standard" these days -- just a few years after it was $800 million).

Of course, every time people point this number out, I point to the excellent research by Merrill Goozner who did a massively thorough debunking of the $800 million number seven years ago, showing that the true number was closer to $35 million.

And yet, the $800 million number has lived on, boosted by inflation to $1.3 billion.

And it's still bunk. Gerd Leonhard points us to some new research that appears to have dug deeper into the question today, and found (once again) that the $1.3 billion claim is total bunk and the real number is more like $55 million -- based on the same data used by the study used to support the $1.3 billion number. In fact, they point out that it appears the pharma industry and those seeking greater protectionism appear to be overestimating the actual cost of drug development by $1.265 billion.

Now, there are some reasonable quibbles with the lower number as well, but ... Read more>>

The difference between clinically diagnosed ME/CFS and “patients claiming to have chronic fatigue syndrome”

Peter W On March 30, 2011:

I can see you are trying to make sense of this situation but are missing the key bit of the puzzle and the history. Does this help? -

First, the difference between clinically diagnosed ME/CFS and “patients claiming to have chronic fatigue syndrome”. At the link here you will find the Canadian Consensus Criteria for ME/CFS http://www.cfids-cab.org/MESA/ccpc.html.

This clinical definition is not focused on fatigue, is not vague, is not entirely subjective, does not easily allow overlap with other conditions; and is not something a person could “claim to have”. It represents the collective experience of hands-on clinicians.

You are correct that some CFS studies do indeed use “self report” or non-specific instruments to determine their study cohort. Here is a link to Prof. Jason’s study demonstrating how non-specific the CDC’s survey criteria are http://dps.sagepub.com/content/20/4/251.abstract.

Unfortunately the use of “self reported claims of having CFS” and non-specific survey instruments is not the domain of the patients. It is the domain of those research groups with a bloody-minded determination to define Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as general, vague condition with multiple causes.

It is this issue that drives the rage of patients losing their lives to this condition. This issue predates XMRV by 20 years and the latter just happens to be the visible end of it right now.

So far all studies that have found murine derived viruses in CFS patients (eg. the original Science study, the FDA/NIH study, the Cornell University study) have looked at cohorts that reflect the clinical reality of the consensus criteria (or at least the Fukuda definition).

One of the early negative studies (unbelievably) used patients “claiming to have CFS”, derived from a random telephone survey. And proclaimed this as “lack of association…of XMRV”

Hypothetical:- if a study of cancer and viral infections was published and you found out that the cancer patients were found from a telephone survey, would you take it seriously? And, would you trust a study looking for viruses that specifically excluded persons that showed signs of possible viral infection such as sore throat and tender lymph nodes would you take it seriously?

Neither do patients have confidence in the conclusions of research groups that make all sorts of technical claims, but can’t understand or deliberately ignore basic logic issues like the ones above.

Fortunately the quality of studies seems to be improving as you note. And fortunately there seems to be more involvement from researchers that demonstrate attention to detail by articulating the issues and seriousness of the illness. These are trusted.

“Distinct Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteomes Differentiate Post-Treatment Lyme Disease
and CFS” http://www.cfids.org/research/proteome-analysis.pdf
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2007/january10/med-fatigue-011007.html

Chronic Fatigue & Immune Disorders Research and Treatment Center

cfsclinic.com:

The goal of this new clinic is to provide the highest quality medical care to those patients suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and related illnesses.

With excellent assessment tools, skilled staff and years of clinical experience provided by Dr. Klimas and her treatment protocols, we are eager to increase the number of patients served here in South Florida and around the country. Read more>>

British Columbia funds study of Fibromyalgia, Lyme disease and ME/CFS

REBEKAH FUNK, VANCOUVER— The Canadian Press, Published Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2011:

Health officials in British Columbia announced $2 million for a study and new centre that will focus on screening, diagnoses and treatment of patients with fibromyalgia, Lyme disease and chronic fatigue syndrome.

The goal of the study and a new clinic initiated by the Ministry of Health and Provincial Health Services Authority is to accurately diagnose the complicated conditions, and provide treatment and ongoing symptom management to patients.

Ryan Jabs, spokesman for the Health Ministry, said the plan has been in the works for quite some time but was announced now to address recent public concern that the province lacked proper health infrastructure to diagnose and treat patients with chronic illness. B.C. doctors have been accused of drastically under-diagnosing Lyme disease, in particular, and failing to report the cases that are diagnosed, as required.

In the past many Canadian patients sought treatment for these conditions in the United States, but Jabs said the new centre will educate local doctors on what to look for.

Jabs said it will be a hub for provincial family doctors and will provide an educational component so medical practitioners can accurately recognize and diagnose the chronic conditions.

“There’s considerable debate around the medical community, internationally and locally, on diagnosis and treatment of these types of complex illnesses because there are a lot of symptoms that overlap,” he said.

<--->

Health Minister Mike de Jong said the additional funds mean B.C. will take a leading role in this area of research.

“I hope that B.C. can help to positively impact patients across the country by studying these illnesses and learning ways to help patients manage their symptoms,” he said in a news release announcing the funding.

Currently, the cause of these debilitating illnesses is unknown, though doctors suspect an infectious agent may play a key role in a patient’s development of chronic diseases. Read more>>

Human viruses now the number-two cause of mountain gorilla deaths

By John Platt, scientificamerican.com, Mar 29, 2011:

Human illnesses are being transmitted to critically endangered mountain gorillas, putting these rare animals further at risk, new research shows.

Centuries ago, mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) lived in relative isolation and were rarely seen by people.

Today, they live in just two protected parks, where they are surrounded by human settlements in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Meanwhile, ecotourism provides the bulk of the funding needed to keep these critically endangered primates alive.

The rare species is at risk on multiple fronts, including poaching, slaughter by rebels, and now, human diseases.

According to a study published this week in Emerging Infectious Diseases, respiratory diseases have been on the rise in mountain gorilla populations in recent years. The diseases not only occur more frequently but also have become more severe, and they are now the number-two cause of mountain gorilla deaths. Read more>>

Human Herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is an immunosuppressive and neurotropic virus

HHV-6 Foundation:

Human Herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is an immunosuppressive and neurotropic virus that can cause encephalitis and seizures during a primary infection or when reactivated from latency in immunosuppressed patients.

New research suggests that HHV-6 may play a role in several chronic neurological conditions including MS, mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, status epilepticus and chronic fatigue syndrome. There is an urgent need for more sensitive diagnostic assays and for studies that can prove or disprove the important disease associations that have been suggested. HHV-6 was discovered in 1986 in AIDS patients with cancer and lymphoproliferative disorders.

There are two distinct variants of HHV-6. HHV-6A is the strain most likely to be found in MS, CFS and AIDS and cancer patients. HHV-6B causes roseola, febrile illnesses and encephalitis in infants and reactivates in transplant patients, causing complications such as encephalitis, pneumonitis and liver failure. HHV-6B infects close to 100% of children by the age of two, causing mild flu-like symptoms and rash in some, but occasionally progresses to high fever, encephalitis and seizures. In most cases, the virus goes into latency. However, in patients with impaired immune function, the virus may persist in its active state at low levels for years.

While it is generally known that HHV-6 causes roseola and occasional seizures and encephalitis in infants, most physicians do not realize that HHV-6 can persist in a subacute form causing CNS dysfunction. HHV-6 can also cause selective immune suppression and alterations in cytokines that make it more difficult for the body to fend off cancer, intracellular pathogens, viruses and mycobacteria. Finally, HHV-6 has potent transactivating properties that cause it to stimulate other viruses, such as EBV, CMV and HHV-8. Read more>>

Professor, who is better looking, sorry faster, Nico or Keke ?

Sensitivity of HHV-6 to Antiviral Agents

Institute for Viral Pathogenesis:

Ganciclovir CYTOVENE™
Ganciclovir is a drug used to treat CMV retinitis. It is available in both oral and intravenous forms. Studies have shown that HHV-6 replication is effectively suppressed by intravenous ganciclovir and the drug has been used to successfully treat life-threatening HHV-6 infections of the brain and spinal cord in bone marrow transplant recipients.

Ganciclovir is the only drug that has demonstrated its ability to successfully treat brain infections by HHV-6.

Treatment with intravenous ganciclovir may cause potentially serious side effects, most commonly bone marrow suppression. Oral ganciclovir is available, but it produces relatively low serum levels of the drug and is unlikely to be highly effective against established HHV-6 infections.

Valganciclovir VALCYTE™
Recently, the valine ester of ganciclovir (valganciclovir or VALCYTETM) has been developed by Roche Pharmaceuticals as an antiviral drug, and it was recently FDA approved for use in the treatment of cytomegalovirus retinitis in patients with AIDS. Valganciclovir is a prodrug of ganciclovir in that it is rapidly converted to ganciclovir by intestinal and hepatic enzymes producing plasma levels of drug that are similar or even superior to those achieved by intravenous ganciclovir. Valganciclovir is administered orally twice per day.

Acyclovir ZOVIRAX™
Acyclovir is used to treat herpes simplex (HSV), varicella zoster (VZV) infections. It is available in oral form. Available data indicate that HHV-6 is relatively insensitive to the inhibitory effects of acyclovir. The mean inhibitory concentration 50% (IC50) of acyclovir for HHV-6 strains is approximately 30 uM, a concentration well above the plasma levels achievable with either oral or intravenous therapy.

Acyclovir VALTREX™
Valacyclovir or VALTREX is an orally delivered drug chiefly used to treat HSV and VZV. It is a prodrug of acylovir, meaning that it is converted to active acyclovir within the body. This results in higher levels of drug in the blood stream and it is believed that this level of drug might be partially effective against HHV-6. Valcyclovir has been used to effectively decrease the incidence of HHV-6 associated disease in bone marrow transplant recipients. Thus it is effective against reactivation of HHV-6, but may not be effective in suppressing an active, chronic infection. Studies have also demonstrated that VALTREX therapy at standard dosages is associated with a low rate of adverse side effects. Thus, VALTREX treatment stands as a potential alternative for long-term therapy for HHV-6 associated diseases, especially in combination with another antiviral drugs such as beta interferon.

Nonconventional Antiviral Agents
Several preparations of various types have been assessed for their ability to suppress the replication of HHV-6 in cell culture. The potential for these agents to be used in the clinical setting remains unclear, and little or nothing is known concerning their pharmokinetics or the plasma levels they can achieve.

One of these is AMPLIGEN, approved for use in Canada and Belgium, but not in the U.S. The Ampligen web site states that results of trials in the U.S. and Belgium "suggest that Ampligen may be an effective treatment for a certain subset of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) patients, namely those with severe debilitation." The structure of this drug is similar to a known interferon inducer and this strongly suggests that any suppressive effect Ampligen may have on HHV-6 replication is mediated by interferon. Ampligen is a synthetic, mismatched, double-stranded RNA, and a single report of its ability to inhibit HHV-6 replication has been published. Read more>>

Reminder

Please thank Dr Judy Mikovits for all her hard work for people with neuroimmune disease by signing this group Birthday card

XMRV According to Riley

by CORT on MARCH 27, 2011:

XMRV has taken some hits lately but there have been some hopeful hints as well and Riley on the PR Forums put a list of them together. He said “they say that the darkest hour is before the dawn, and I believe we are in that darkest hour” and here is why he believes XMRV will work out.

1. Dr Mikovits’ comments at Santa Rosa that she believes “the politics will go away shortly.”

2. Another person on the forum reported a few weeks ago that Dr. Demerleir told him that there is something coming out in a couple of months that will end the contamination debate, but that he could not provide details because of a non disclosure agreement.

3. The report from XMRVGA on Dr. Mikovits’ recent talk in Canada. They said that some new “jaw dropping” directions were announced and that the research is progressing nicely. They too said they could not release details at this time.

4. Some comments that Dr. Lo and Dr. Alter made during the NIH videocast abou their research, which make it seem that contamination is highly unlikely. Also , the general confidence that they display in their results.

5. The recent letter from Dr. Lapp which states that Chronix found XMRV, possibly integrated into human DNA with new technology.

6. The escalating coverage in the Wall Street Journal. I cannot help but think that ADM has gotten wind of whatever big announcement is coming, and that she and the Journal are now laying the groundwork for what is sure to be a massive story. Think about it why all of the full page articles about CFS now? Why run that article about Mangan and NIH campaign now? That stuff happened six months ago, and the article read like it was written six months ago.

7. The press release being discussed in this thread. I take this not as a demotion of Dr. Mikovits or some sort of capitulation by the WPI, but as a sign that they have a trump card on the way and are therefore ready to move in a new direction (treatment) with Dr. Mikovits at the helm. I think that this announcement will come in May and coincide with the opening of the WPI clinic.

Contaminated IV bags suspected in 9 patient deaths in Alabama

By Tom Watkins, CNN, March 30, 2011:

(CNN) -- Alabama health officials Wednesday continued their investigation into what role a bacterial infection that was spread intravenously had in the deaths of nine hospital patients.

Of 19 patients who were infected after they were fed intravenously, nine died in six different Alabama hospitals. The 10 others were reportedly not doing very well.
In the short term, the infected IV bags have been removed from the hospitals and recalled, said Dr. Don Williamson of the Alabama Department of Public Health.

"For the pharmacy and these patients, this is now a closed loop," he said. "The bigger challenge is how did this happen, and what can be done to reduce the risk of contamination in the future."

The bacteria, identified as serratia marcescens bacteremia, can prove fatal, though investigators -- including those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- have not determined that they caused the deaths, he said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

The rod-shaped bacteria that were discovered in bags used in intravenous feeding -- also referred to as total parenteral nutrition -- would have entered the bloodstream easily and "with a pretty quick effect in terms of blood pressure and temperature," he said. Read more>>

The last time anyone touched me was in January when my doctor shook my hand

Anonymous said...:

My M.E. wax and wane. It changes from very severe to a stage where I can go outside and life is easier.

But the sever state is difficult. You lie there in your bed and your humanity is slowly sliced away bit by bit until all that you are is a being. You are being, but you dont really care anymore if you are dying or being. Sometimes you look at the clock and are happy that yet another hour have past and that you soon can go to sleep again. Theres no dream and no hope anymore, because I am using all my energy to just survive.

I live alone and the last time anyone touched me was in January when my doctor shook my hand. The last time someone kissed me, the last time I had sex, years and years ago.

When I am better I take part in the fight for treatment, for research. And as an XMRV positive I hate when I am told to use my inside voice. Because I have had no voice for so long that when I have found my voice I will shout and make my self heard.

More Evidence TNF-alpha Allows Viral Persistence

MARCH 24, 2011 BY DR BRADSTREET:

This comment came on one of my think tank blogs from researcher and professor Dick Deth:

“Viruses such as XMRV are suppressed by methylation, and the enzyme methionine synthase is a master controller of methylation. We observed very powerful and rapid inhibition of methionine synthase (MS) transcription by TNF-alpha (>90% decrease of MS mRNA). An examination of the promoter region of methionine synthase revealed a consensus site for NF-kappa-B binding which overlaps the normally promotional AP-1 site.

Thus we can hypothesize that TNF-alpha decreases methylation activity via NF-kappa-B. This decrease will augment viral persistence and replication. Notably, MS is very sensitive to oxidative stress, implying that oxidative stress, initiated by any number of provocations, would increase susceptibility to viral infection.

Persistent viral infection could in turn prolong/delay recovery from oxidative stress, leading to a persistent oxidative stress and persistent v (a self-reinforcing relationship). In other words we normally recover from an oxidative stress-producing event, but the presence of a viral infection can turn this into a chronic condition…”

This is exactly what we are observing in numerous conditions including XMRV, Autism and ME/CFS. The good news is these conditions can be treated.

BACME statement on PACE trial

29 March 2011, BACME statement on PACE trial:

On 25 March, an email was sent to members of the British Association for CFS/M.E. (BACME) on behalf of Michelle Selby, Acting Chair of BACME, reporting the organisation’s response to the initial results of the PACE trial.

BACME statement

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has previously recommended Graded Exercise Therapy (GET) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) as treatments for mild and moderate categories of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/M.E.) on the basis of somewhat limited evidence in the form of numerically small clinical trials.

The PACE Trial represents the highest grade of clinical evidence – a large randomised clinical trial, carefully designed, rigorously conducted and scrupulously analysed and reported. It provides convincing evidence that GET and CBT are safe and effective therapies and should be widely available for patients with CFS/M.E. as per the NICE guidelines.

Adaptive Pacing Therapy (APT) has not been shown to be effective as delivered within the PACE Trial, but this may differ from activity strategies promoted by CFS/M.E. services nationally. This trial shows that approaches aimed at staying within limits imposed by the illness are less effective than those that test such limits.

It is clearly vital to continue our research into biological mechanisms for CFS/M.E., remembering past attempts that have shown how difficult this can be. In the current absence of a biomedical model for the causation, and no evidence based pharmacological intervention, we have a pragmatic approach to treatment that has been shown to work for many and we should continue to offer it, ensuring that health professionals receive the level of training and supervision required to maintain standards of excellence across the country.

The British Association for CFS/M.E. (BACME) welcomes the recent announcement by the MRC that it is putting £1.5 million towards research into the cause of CFS/M.E.

BACME’s email to members

As the PACE trial was a significant study in the field of CFS/ME, BACME has taken time to consider its implications before issuing a response. If patients seek clarification regarding some of the interpretations of the findings the following points may be helpful:

Supporting the PACE Trial does not contradict any of the statements below:

We (BACME) are not saying that CFS/ME is a psychological illness, rather we prefer to use the term ‘medically unexplained syndrome’ as we do not have a biochemical or physical marker for diagnosis
We believe that further research into a biomedical mechanism for the illness should be vigorously pursued
If a patient is disabled, they are entitled to benefits irrespective of the mechanism causing that disability
Currently nothing other than CBT and GET has shown any sustained benefit for CFS/ME – it is essential that we ensure that these treatments should be delivered to the highest standard across the country. It is also crucial that health professionals, patient charities, and patients are in constant dialogue to maintain and improve service provision in a climate of public sector cuts.


My Note: What a lot of garbage, is Bacme an acronym for Wesselian CBT ?

Cytokine signatures of transformed B cells with distinct EBV latencies as a potential diagnostic tool for B cell lymphoma

Kosuke Miyauchi Ph.D.1, Emiko Urano Ph.D.1, Hironori Yoshiyama M.D., Ph.D.2, Jun Komano M.D., Ph.D.1,*:

ABSTRACT
Immunocompromised individuals, including those infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), are at increased risk of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated aggressive B cell malignancies such as Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) or diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Differential diagnosis of these lymphomas requires histopathological, immunohistochemical, and cytogenetic assessments.

Rapid, less invasive approaches to the diagnosis of EBV-associated B cell lymphomas are needed. Here, high-throughput cytokine profiling of BL cell lines and EBV-transformed B lymphoblastoid cell lines (B-LCLs), representing DLBCL, was carried out. By monitoring the production of 42 different cytokines, unique cytokine signatures were identified for BL and B-LCL/DLBCL. BL cells produced interleukin (IL)-10, 10 kDa interferon gamma-induced protein (IP-10)/CXCL10, macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC)/CCL22, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α/CCL3, and MIP-1β/CCL4. In addition to these five cytokines, the cytokine signature of B-LCL/DLBCL cells included IL-8/CXCL8, IL-13, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-AA, and regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES)/CCL5. EBV latency was responsible for the increased production of IL-10, MDC/CCL22 and MIP-1α/CCL3 in BL cells, suggesting that EBV-mediated BL-genesis involves these three cytokines.

These results suggest that high-throughput cytokine profiling may be a valuable tool for the differential diagnosis and may deepen our understanding of the pathogenesis of EBV-associated B cell malignancies.

6500% Increase in Prosecution of Psychiatrists by General Medical Council in UK

Posted by Doctors4Justice:

There has been at least 6500% increase in the prosecution of psychiatrists during Labour Government by the General Medical Council (GMC) in the last five years (2006-2010).

In the period 1992-1997 only one psychiatrist has been disciplined by GMC.

Once Labour government was elected twenty six psychiatrists had sanctions imposed on their practice, thirty nine had warnings issued to them by the regulator and had to accept undertakings in order to keep their registration as doctors.

This would also send a strong message to the medical profession to shut up and put up. Read more>>

What happened to Sophia Mirza who died from ME/CFS

posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 by Gosip Hangat:

Sophia’s mum Criona tells hοw hеr daughter Sophia pointlessly suffered аnԁ died frοm thе very much misunderstood disease οf ME.

Sophia died bесаυѕе οf thе greed οf ѕοmе doctors аnԁ thе ignorance οf many doctors.

ME іѕ a PHYSICAL illness, уеt іt profits medical insurance companies аnԁ thе mental health camp tο fudge thе physical/mental disease line іn order fοr profit. ME/CFS іѕ nοt a grey area, іt іѕ a physical disease nοt a mental one. Video

Dr Magiorkinis: The immunological and infection evidence (XMRV) cannot be explained by nucleic acid contaminations

Gkikas Magiorkinis, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 11, Issue 4, Page 264, April 2011:

Recent evidence claims to show that the link between xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus (XMRV) and chronic fatigue syndrome1 and prostate cancer is probably a result of laboratory contamination.

A part of the research has focused on proving that the molecular approach (PCR) is sensitive but not specific, predisposing it to possible contamination.2, 3 Another part of the research has shown that the virus is common even in human cell-lines and since it can be amplified easily, the possibility of contamination is high.4

Finally, the most interesting piece of evidence is the molecular evolution of the samples isolated from patients, cell-lines, and mice proving that XMRV has not been circulating between human beings.4

Nevertheless, the paper by Lombardi and colleagues5 that began this debate provided solid evidence based not only on the molecular identification of the virus, but also on immunological responses of the host (virus-specific antibodies), viral expression in patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells (flow cytometry), and an infection model (infection of cultured human cells from patients' samples).

Recently, a model of rhesus macaques enforced the evidence for the infectious potential of XMRV.6 The immunological and infection evidence cannot be explained by nucleic acid contaminations.

Thus, the only explanation for the molecular evolution data, from a study by Hue and colleagues,4 is that the patients have been infected by a common source of XMRV and not through human contact.

Once a virus is endogenised, it is forced to follow the evolutionary rate of the host. Since XMRV is integrated in cell-lines the virus evolution is restricted to the host's pace of evolution, and viral descendants have none or minimum sequence diversity. Thus, if a contaminated product, previously cultured in cell-lines, is administered to people then the infections would provide the evolutionary patterns reported by Hue and colleagues.4

If the immunological data reported by Lombardi and colleagues5 are correct, then we need to trace the common source for these infections to prevent possible public health concerns. Products from cell-lines should be the first candidates.

GM is supported by a Wellcome Trust grant.

Extreme torture is exactly what this disease is

Anonymous said...:

I'm a long time advocate and XMRV+. Typically I tend to enjoy your writing, but I couldn't disagree more on a couple of things you brought up. The following comment is dangerous to our cause and possibly the same thinking behind the lack of interest in research and funding.

"Everyone being healthy isn't an inviolable right. People suffer WORSE every day all over the world. I imagine starvation is worse. Or being tortured."

I'm not sure where your from but where I live many generations have worked hard, sacrificed, even given there lives to confront those problems. Now we face new and more complex issues but the system refuses to rise to the occasion for what seem to be political and monetary reasons.

I have been sick 14 years and completely bed bound for 4 years now.

Extreme torture is exactly what this disease is. The truth is I would take starvation because death comes faster.

Apparently you still have moments when life is bearable, but until you don't never suggest there are worse things. Yes the woman in Cambodia is tragic but I've never been able to have a wife or family due to illness.

Is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. For 30 years the patient community has tried to be civil with minimal results, so I would argue the opposite of what you suggest. I guess we could keep trying the same thing over and over and hope for different results, but then the psychologists would be right. Its time we demand the attention by any means necessary.

One very last chance for you to stop the harsh new ESA test

Steve Donnison, Benefits and Work Publishing Ltd, 28 March 2011:

In spite of the fact that the harsh new work capability assessment (WCA), the medical test for employment and support allowance (ESA), became law today, there is still a chance of getting it cancelled.

But it does depend on you urgently attempting to persuade your MP to get off their . . . seat and do something useful before they go off on their Easter holidays next week.

Labour leader Ed Miliband and 7 Labour MPs tabled an early day motion on 23 March ‘praying’ for the new WCA to be annulled. New regulations like these can be overturned by a vote for up to 40 days after they were laid. Because the DWP messed up the laying of the regulations and had to lay them again, the 40 days does not run out until 6 April.

There is a huge irony in the labour party challenging the harsh new WCA when they actually drew it up themselves, but didn’t have time to implement it before being booted out of power. The line labour is taking to justify their u-turn is that the recommendations in the Harrington report should be implemented before any consideration is given to further changes to ESA.

And, whatever the reason for labour’s change of tactic, there is a chance that there could be a debate, a slim possibility there could be a vote and a tiny chance that the government could be defeated. We know that a similar process in the House of Lords ended in feeble surrender last week, but a tiny chance is better than no hope whatsoever.

So, please consider contacting your MP as a matter of urgency and ask them to support EDM 1651 to try to halt this shameful new test which discriminates against many seriously sick and disabled claimants including, for example, blind people with guide dogs. Read more>>

XMRV is now also associated with leukemia, lymphoma and ITP

XMRV Global Action:
XMRV is now associated with leukemia, lymphoma and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) - from Dr Mikovits at NYAS presentation.

New FaceBook virus !!

DO NOT OPEN attachment.

"Dear client.

A Spam is sent from your FaceBook account.
Your password has been changed for safety.
Information regarding your account and a new password is attached to the letter.
Read this information thoroughly and change the password to complicated one.
Please do not reply to this email, it's automatic mail notification!

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Dr. Mikovits' talk at Pathogens in the Blood Supply

Slides from Dr. Mikovits' talk at Pathogens in the Blood Supply are available for viewing here

Strategies for Detection of XMRV in Blood: J.Mikovits (Part 1):



Strategies for Detection of XMRV in Blood: J.Mikovits (Part 2):



Strategies for Detection of XMRV in Blood Q&A: J.Mikovits

Mouse sequences detected in human samples are proof of transmission of mouse viruses to human beings

Alexandre FR Stewart a, D William Cameron a, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 11, Issue 4, Pages 264 - 265, April 2011:

Simard and colleagues1 reported the most current and largest comprehensive assessment of cancer incidence in people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy.

Whereas the incidence of AIDS-defining cancers, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and many other non-AIDS-defining cancers was increased, a striking finding of this report was the nearly 50% reduction in the incidence of breast and prostate cancer.

This paradoxical reduction in breast-cancer risk has been reported in the context of immune suppression.2

Researchers from several laboratories have identified DNA sequences highly homologous to the mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV; a betaretrovirus of mice) in about 40% of human breast cancer specimens.3—4 Others have identified sequences related to the xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus (XMRV; a gammaretrovirus of mice) in human prostate cancer.5 In both malignancies, a retrovirus from mice has been associated, albeit association itself is not evidence for causality. Furthermore, not all laboratories have replicated these associations, and a retroviral cause in breast and prostate cancer remains controversial. Arguments that mouse sequences detected in human samples are proof of contamination can be equally interpreted as evidence for zoonosis—the transmission of mouse viruses to human beings—as we have suggested.6

Antiretroviral drug treatment (ART) might inhibit retroviruses other than HIV.7

Should ART have an effect on putative oncoviral cancers of long clinical latency or late onset (such as breast and prostate cancer), because HIV is generally acquired during the reproductive years and as the use of ART started in the 1990s, then an effect might be seen only after many years and in later life. A meta-analysis8 published in 2007 noted reduced incidence of prostate cancer, but not breast cancer, in patients with AIDS. Reduced incidence of breast cancer was noted by Simard and colleagues.1

This finding might be related to the long period of HIV immune suppression despite partial immune reconstitution on ART, or it might be due to antiviral activity of ART—if mouse retroviruses contribute to human breast cancer as we have proposed.6

Evidence that ART in patients with HIV is associated with a 50% reduction in the incidence of breast cancer lends further support to the oncoviral hypothesis. Read more>>

ART in patients with HIV is associated with a 50% reduction in the incidence of breast cancer

Alexandre FR Stewart a, D William Cameron a, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 11, Issue 4, Pages 264 - 265, April 2011:

Simard and colleagues1 reported the most current and largest comprehensive assessment of cancer incidence in people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy.

Whereas the incidence of AIDS-defining cancers, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and many other non-AIDS-defining cancers was increased, a striking finding of this report was the nearly 50% reduction in the incidence of breast and prostate cancer.

This paradoxical reduction in breast-cancer risk has been reported in the context of immune suppression.2

Researchers from several laboratories have identified DNA sequences highly homologous to the mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV; a betaretrovirus of mice) in about 40% of human breast cancer specimens.3—4 Others have identified sequences related to the xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus (XMRV; a gammaretrovirus of mice) in human prostate cancer.5 In both malignancies, a retrovirus from mice has been associated, albeit association itself is not evidence for causality. Furthermore, not all laboratories have replicated these associations, and a retroviral cause in breast and prostate cancer remains controversial. Arguments that mouse sequences detected in human samples are proof of contamination can be equally interpreted as evidence for zoonosis—the transmission of mouse viruses to human beings—as we have suggested.6

Antiretroviral drug treatment (ART) might inhibit retroviruses other than HIV.7

Should ART have an effect on putative oncoviral cancers of long clinical latency or late onset (such as breast and prostate cancer), because HIV is generally acquired during the reproductive years and as the use of ART started in the 1990s, then an effect might be seen only after many years and in later life. A meta-analysis8 published in 2007 noted reduced incidence of prostate cancer, but not breast cancer, in patients with AIDS. Reduced incidence of breast cancer was noted by Simard and colleagues.1

This finding might be related to the long period of HIV immune suppression despite partial immune reconstitution on ART, or it might be due to antiviral activity of ART—if mouse retroviruses contribute to human breast cancer as we have proposed.6

Evidence that ART in patients with HIV is associated with a 50% reduction in the incidence of breast cancer lends further support to the oncoviral hypothesis. Read more>>

Mouse viruses and human disease

Alexandre FR Stewart a, D William Cameron a, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 11, Issue 4, Pages 264 - 265, April 2011:

Simard and colleagues1 reported the most current and largest comprehensive assessment of cancer incidence in people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy.

Whereas the incidence of AIDS-defining cancers, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and many other non-AIDS-defining cancers was increased, a striking finding of this report was the nearly 50% reduction in the incidence of breast and prostate cancer.

This paradoxical reduction in breast-cancer risk has been reported in the context of immune suppression.2

Researchers from several laboratories have identified DNA sequences highly homologous to the mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV; a betaretrovirus of mice) in about 40% of human breast cancer specimens.3—4 Others have identified sequences related to the xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus (XMRV; a gammaretrovirus of mice) in human prostate cancer.5 In both malignancies, a retrovirus from mice has been associated, albeit association itself is not evidence for causality. Furthermore, not all laboratories have replicated these associations, and a retroviral cause in breast and prostate cancer remains controversial. Arguments that mouse sequences detected in human samples are proof of contamination can be equally interpreted as evidence for zoonosis—the transmission of mouse viruses to human beings—as we have suggested.6

Antiretroviral drug treatment (ART) might inhibit retroviruses other than HIV.7

Should ART have an effect on putative oncoviral cancers of long clinical latency or late onset (such as breast and prostate cancer), because HIV is generally acquired during the reproductive years and as the use of ART started in the 1990s, then an effect might be seen only after many years and in later life. A meta-analysis8 published in 2007 noted reduced incidence of prostate cancer, but not breast cancer, in patients with AIDS. Reduced incidence of breast cancer was noted by Simard and colleagues.1

This finding might be related to the long period of HIV immune suppression despite partial immune reconstitution on ART, or it might be due to antiviral activity of ART—if mouse retroviruses contribute to human breast cancer as we have proposed.6

Evidence that ART in patients with HIV is associated with a 50% reduction in the incidence of breast cancer lends further support to the oncoviral hypothesis. Read more>>

DON'T FORGET TODAY MARCH 29TH: Pathogens in the Blood Supply - WEBINAR

Dr Mikovits talking about XMRV live on video.

Dr Lipkin will also be discussing other matters.

Read more>>

It's awfully important to some to be highly specific about the viruses, but not the cohorts being tested

XMRV-Bloggerama-Day, MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2011:

The CDC, and by extension the NIH, the NHS and other governmental health agencies, and medical science at large has ignored us for decades. My belief is that they will no longer have that luxury anymore even if XMRV turns out to be the 'blind alley' some, inexplicably, think it already is.

Any of the doctors, researchers, scientists, who have expressed concern what this could mean if this represents a false finding, the damage it could do to the collective psyche of this patient community?

Where has your concern been for the past 25+ years?

Don't worry about how we'll take the hard news if XMRV doesn't pan out. We have so much fun every day, we'll somehow manage to deal with it. Most of you never worried about us before, so you don't have to start now.

Oh, yeah--one more thing. On this issue of dismissing the findings of Lo et al as not confirming the findings of Lombardi et al, which has been stated by Trine Tsouderos as much as any one person I know of--did it ever occur to you that the alphabet soup is difficult to keep tabs on?

There's XMRV, MLV, HGRV, PMLV, XMLV, HMRV...I've seen all of these used. I can't keep track sometimes, and I think I actually know what the differences are (although I'll steer clear of defining them here). Is it a crime against science to refer to them generally as XMRV?

I know that wouldn't be correct. But, really. This is all confusing enough. The study of MLVs is not new, but the specific retrovirus XMRV is. Is it such an awful thing if we 'think' of the MLVs found by Alter & Lo as 'XMRV' for the sake of discussion?

Because it seems to me that's what many people--patients, advocates and other interested parties, and journalists as well--have actually done. Yet it's awfully important to some to be highly specific about the viruses, but not the cohorts being tested.

Double standard? Is the difference between the terminology used for the viruses in question more important than the differences in diagnostic criteria?

Why? Read more>>

NCI Seminar on Transmission of Human Retrovirus XMRV, Wednesday April 6, University of Texas

University of Texas at Austin, School of Biological Sciences:

Wednesday, April 6 at 4:00pm at University of Texas at Austin, School of Biological Sciences, MBB 1.210

SEMINAR TITLE: "Role of Innate Immune Cells in Transmission of the Human Retroviruses HTLV and XMRV"

SPEAKER: KATHY JONES, Principal Scientist, Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, Leukocyte Biology Section, NCI Frederick Cancer Research Center, Frederick,

MD HOST: Jackie Dudley

CONTACT: Sandra Miller

Most B.C. doctors not trained to diagnose Lyme disease

By Pamela Fayerman, Vancouver Sun March 28, 2011:

VANCOUVER -- B.C. doctors are failing to comply with a requirement to report all cases of Lyme disease to public health authorities and are confused about diagnosing it, according to a report published in the current B.C. Medical Journal.

Humans can get Lyme disease if they are bitten by an infected tick. The black-legged, sesame-seed-sized tick is found throughout southern B.C.

Two weeks of early treatment with antibiotics is essential to prevent potentially serious long-term disabilities such as arthritis, persistent pain, fatigue, neurological symptoms or even death.

Two-thirds of doctors said they know Lyme disease is a reportable one. And yet, only 10 cases were officially reported to the BC Centre for Disease Control last year, a number similar to previous years.

But a survey done in 2008 — and only now released — shows that 148 doctors recalled diagnosing 221 cases in 2007. In that year, only 13 cases were officially reported. Read more>>

Twitter Abbreviations You Need To Know

Nicholas Carlson, businessinsider.com:

Here is what we've come up with so far. It's hardly exhaustive, so please add abbreviations we should include in the comments.


Technical Twitter abbreviations:

MT = Modified tweet. This means the tweet you're looking at is a paraphrase of a tweet originally written by someone else.
RT = Retweet. The tweet you're looking at was forwarded to you by another user.
DM = Direct message. A direct-message is a message only you and the person who sent it can read. IMPORTANT: To DM someone all you need to type is D username message.
PRT = Partial retweet. The tweet you're looking at is the truncated version of someone else's tweet.
HT = Hat tip. This is a way of attributing a link to another Twitter user.
CC = Carbon-copy. Works the same way as email.


Conversational abbreviations:

IMHO = In my humble opnion.
AYFKMWTS = Are you f---ing kidding me with this s---?
GTFOOH = Get the f--- out of here
OH = Overheard.
NFW = No f---ing way
IRL = In real life
NSFW = Not safe for work.
FML = F--- my life.
FWIW = For what it's worth.
QOTD = quote of the day
BTW = By the way
BFN = Bye for now
AFAIK = As far as I know'
TY = Thank you
YW = You're welcome

We miss any big ones?

Recall Warning: Citalopram Bottles May Not Contain the Right Drug

By Marcia Purse, About.com Guide March 28, 2011:

Drug manufacturer Pfizer Inc.'s Greenstone unit has issued a recall on two of its generic drugs, the antidepressant citalopram, and the prostate drug finasteride (also used for male pattern baldness), because of a labeling snafu. Bottles labeled citalopram may contain finasteride and vice versa. Bottles with the brand names Celexa (citalopram) and Proscar or Propecia (finasteride) are not affected by the mislabeling.

Finasteride, a drug exclusively for men, should not be taken by women or children, nor even handled by pregnant women as it is known to cause fetal abnormalities.

Pfizer's press release says that citalopram shouldn't be taken by patients taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) or Orap (pimozide), or by patients with a hypersensitivity to Celexa, citalopram or any of the inactive ingredients in the tablet.

Pfizer also warns that patients who discontinue citalopram abruptly by inadvertently taking the mislabeled product may experience discontinuation symptoms and/or worsening of depression.

According to Pfizer, medicines with the lot number FI0510058-A, including Citalopram 10mg Tablets (100-count bottle) and Finasteride 5mg Tablets (90-count bottle), should be returned to the pharmacy.

However, if your medication is given to you in a standard pharmacy bottle rather than in the bottle provided by the manufacturer, the lot numbers don't appear. If you are taking either of these medications, you may want to be prudent and have the pills checked by your pharmacy. If you learn you have been taking the wrong drug, contact your doctor immediately.

38 patients at risk of CJD after surgery in south Wales

BBC News, 29 March 2011:

Thirty eight patients have been put at risk of contracting Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) during surgery in south Wales, it has been revealed.

Letters have been sent after it was found someone who had an operation in an Abertawe Bro Morgannwg hospital in 2007 was at high risk.

Health officials said it was the first incident "of this magnitude" but the transmission risk was "extremely low".

The patients had operations between 2007 and 2009.

Thirty seven of the patients are from mid and west Wales and one is from north Wales.

CJD is a rare fatal disease that causes degeneration of nervous tissues, for example in the brain and spinal cord.

Public Health Wales (PHW) said they did not have a single confirmed case of the rare disease and the patient thought to be at the highest risk remains well.

The initial operation took place in one of four hospitals - Singleton and Morriston in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot General or the Princess of Wales in Bridgend.

Health officials are not naming the hospital to protect the identity of the high risk patient. Read more>>

You Tube, Twitter & Facebook to Merge

By: Drjohngreensmith Mefreeforallorg

'Don't panic' over plutonium in soil at Fukushima plant

Zena Iovino, reporter, newscientist.com, 29 March 2011:

Plutonium was detected in soil samples taken at five locations at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant between 21 and 22 March, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). However, TEPCO says that only two of the five samples appear to contain plutonium released during the current crisis.

The two samples in question show elevated levels of plutonium-238. Though these findings grabbed headlines on Monday, experts contacted by New Scientist say that the contamination is not severe.

"I'm not going to lie awake at night worrying about these levels," says Dan Strom, staff scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, who notes that the US Environmental Protection Agency would deem soil with this level of contamination fit for farming.

"If this site were to be used just for a recreational area - a parking lot or golf course - then you could easily have 100 times this level," Strom adds.

Jasmina Vujic, a nuclear engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that some plutonium may have spread from steam that arose when water was dumped on the damaged buildings housing the reactors to cool spent fuel rods. Read more>>

Professor, is this a classical example of Bibitis ?

CDC's Dr Unger: CFS is defined by a post-exertional fatigue which can be measured via a blood test

Toni Whistler, James F Jones, Elizabeth R Unger and Suzanne D Vernon*:

Address: Viral Exanthems and Herpesvirus Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
Email: Toni Whistler - taw6@cdc.gov; James F Jones - jaj9@cdc.gov; Elizabeth R Unger - eru0@cdc.gov; Suzanne D Vernon* - sdv2@cdc.gov
* Corresponding author

CFS is defined by a post-exertional fatigue that does not subside 24 hours following physical stress. In contrast, exercise in healthy, untrained people induces changes in cellular homeostasis in 1 to 4 hours and a return to basal levels within 24 hours, as measured in muscle [15].

Analysis of peripheral blood gene expression in the healthy control subjects confirmed this observation since the majority of gene expression levels were the same before and 24 hours following exercise challenge. This implied that expression either returned to basal levels or was unchanged as a result of the exercise challenge.

And indeed, many of the 21 exercise-induced, differentially expressed genes in control subjects were characterized by GOs that reflect a diverse set of molecular functions necessary for cell function and viability. (These ontologies overlapped with those identified in the GO comparison analysis given in Figure 2a).

Figure 1 clearly illustrates the reciprocal pattern of gene expression in the 21 genes formost of the control subjects. In contrast, 11 of the genes were unchanged in CFS subjects before and after exercise; with 5 being classified in a transport-related ontology.

Because this difference in gene expression is so dramatic, it implicates a fundamental perturbation in the biochemical activity of lymphocyte and monocyte peripheral blood fractions from CFS subjects compared with control subjects that does not affect classical immunologic markers (i.e, CD45) that have been shown to be unaffected in CFS patients [16,17]. Rather, low expression of these genes may have subtle effects on immune function. Read more>>

So at least in 2004 the CDC knew that ME/CFS is a physical disease, which also means they have known for a long time that all the Reeves nonsense about personality disorders is lying big time. Very sad this denial medicine. Time that one of these denial honchos gets ME themself.

See also: Metabolic dysfunction causes Post-Exertional malaise in ME/CFS or When CBT fanatico's get ME they run away from silly CBT as fast as possible !!

CDC's Dr Unger: Complement activation is significantly different between CFS and control subjects after exercise

Toni Whistler, James F Jones, Elizabeth R Unger and Suzanne D Vernon*:

Address: Viral Exanthems and Herpesvirus Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
Email: Toni Whistler - taw6@cdc.gov; James F Jones - jaj9@cdc.gov; Elizabeth R Unger - eru0@cdc.gov; Suzanne D Vernon* - sdv2@cdc.gov
* Corresponding author

One interesting correlate of this study was the finding that the complement pathway showed significant differences between CFS and control subjects after exercise. This has been reported previously in the analysis of these same exercise challenge-derived specimens.

Sorensen et al. [22] measured levels of complement split products in the sera
of these subjects and found differences between CFS and control subjects in C4a after exercise challenge.

Complement activation was identified as an ontology that was significantly different between CFS and control subjects after exercise. Read more>>

Sex attack vet taken off register

BBC Kent, Friday, 10 September, 2004:

A Herne Bay man who admitted indecent assault on a girl in July has been found unfit to practise as a vet.

Laurence Swift who ran the St Francis Veterinary Clinic in Canterbury Road, was struck off the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) register.

The college's disciplinary committee ruled his crime against the 12-year-old girl rendered him unfit to practise.

The 57-year-old was also found guilty of "disgraceful conduct" in his treatment of a cat.

In a three-day case, the committee heard allegations that he used unlicensed medicine on a cat, called Blue, and mistreated a dog found to have teeth missing after an X-ray.

The committee heard the cat had to be put down the day after being given the drugs.

The committee ordered his name to be removed from the register because of the indecent assault, which Swift admitted at Canterbury Crown Court in July, and also because of his treatment of Blue. Read more>>

Are Alien abductions responsible for irresponsible journalism ?

Posted by nmj:

I'm always curious about lists of writers' favourite books but was peeved to see a recommendation for a recent book ('sympathetic, informed, canny') by Elaine Showalter. The book may well deserve such praise from Joyce Carol Oates, but I have not read - and will never read - anything by Showalter for I cannot see her name without feeling huge anger and disrespect.

(For those who don't know, in 1997, she wrote Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media in which she irresponsibly and shamefully argued that ME and Gulf War Syndrome - like claims of alien abduction - were manifestations of hysteria, 'psychogenic syndromes of the 1990s'. She was most certainly not sympathetic, informed or ... Read more>>

Love Warrior on a Tricycle

Posted by Madhusudan Agrawal on Mar 20, 2011:

After polio, Raghu lost his legs. He had to walk with his the support of his hands.

A long time back, a few friends took a walk on the street with the inspiration to do a small act of kindness. After some search, two of them saw Raghu arranging the shoes that people had left outside the temple. Given his condition, their first impulse was to do something for him, but when they conversed with him, they quickly realized that they were actually receiving a lot more than they could give him. Raghu's big-hearted devotion coupled with a sharp and street-smart intellect profoundly impressed them, so much so that they spoke about him to Jayeshbhai and ended up making him financially self-reliant.

Raghu's impluse of kindness is ever-present. One of his many kindness endeavors is the Tulsi project. Whenever he learns of a family (mostly in the slums) with some dispute or even violent abuse, Raghu courageously walks in to spread good cheer and gifts them a tulsi plant. Most of these are complete strangers. Sometimes he'll recite a prayer, sometimes he'll talk about wise saints, sometimes he'll share stories. Hearing hopeful messages from a young man without legs is quite transformative! When he leaves the holy Tulsi plant, people accept it as a blessing; and as they nurture the plant, and are reminded of its presence everyday, they sometimes grow in empathy. To date, he has given out more than 500 of these plants, one at a time. Read more>>

Recoding CFS: Another trick from the CDC and prof CBT

Post deleted as there were some inaccuracies.

A cheese slicer or another angle of the MP4-26 rear wing ?

Source: Adam Cooper, Journalist on the FIA F1 World Championship trail, been to every single Grand Prix since Japan 1994

Acute myeloid leukaemia genes' role discovered

By James Gallagher, Health reporter, BBC News:

Three groups of mutations which cause acute myeloid leukaemia, a cancer of the white blood cells, have been identified by scientists.

The researchers suggest their work on mice, published in Nature Genetics, could lead to new treatments.

Two thousand people in the UK are diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia each year. Read more>>

There's a Light at the end of the tunnel for sick Gulf War Veterans

DIARY OF A DESERT STORM VETERAN, SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2011:

Today i attended a conference at the Miami VA hospital entitled:"GWI and CFS/ME Research Update". It was held to give an update on all the research completed and to inform the audience of future research plans.

The principal player for Miami is Drl. Nancy Klimas, Director of the Center for Multidisciplinary Research on Gulf War illness and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A video was filmed and will later be presented at www.cfsknowledgecenter.com.

I did notice there were very few regular VA doctors there. I was disappointed because i feel the primary care doctors and other doctors on my team or anyone else's team should have been there to learn more about it.

In introductory remarks, Dr. Nancy Klimas said that anyone suffereing from Gulf War Illness or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome needs an immunologist on their team. Gulf war Illness involves many body mechanisms and affects the following areas or necessities: ... Read more>>

America's Biggest Cover-Up

by author Neenyah Ostrom:

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is not the only illness that is frustrating contemporary medical science. Gloom pervaded the Ninth International AIDS Meeting (held in Berlin in June 1993), as clinicians and researchers acknowledged that little progress was being made in fighting the illness.

The drug that has been touted for years by the U.S. government as stopping the progression of AIDS and extending patients' lives, AZT, does neither. In fact, researchers revealed, AZT is so toxic that it may actually hurt AIDS patients more than it helps. And the immune system marker used to evaluate AIDS patients' health (and AZT's action), T4 cell counts, it was admitted in Berlin, has essentially no correlation with patients' health.

Although uneasiness and distress permeated news reports during and following the Berlin meeting, no reporter asked the obvious question: Is it possible that so little progress has been made in combating AIDS because a mistake has been made in the definition of the epidemic?

This book will attempt to answer not only that question, but also other, potentially even more alarming, ones: Is CFS actually part of the AIDS epidemic? Are CFS and AIDS, in fact, the same illness?

Since the Berlin conference, for anyone interested in observing it, evidence linking these two refractory epidemics, AIDS and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, has continued to accumulate.

Anxiety about the direction of AIDS research had really begun at the previous international AIDS conference, held in Amsterdam in 1992.

The bombshell of 1992's AIDS conference was the announcement that some researchers had identified cases of AIDS without evidence of infection with the "AIDS virus," HIV.

These "non-HIV AIDS cases" had severely depleted T4 (or CD4) cells, like AIDS patients; they also developed life-threatening opportunistic infections.

What wasn't known to most observers was that one of the researchers who had first publicly identified some of the non-HIV AIDS cases, Dr. Sidhur Gupta of the University of California, Irvine, is a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome researcher.

And some of the non-HIV AIDS cases, it was soon revealed, were actually CFS patients. Read more>>

Myalgic Encephalopathy is incorrect and rude

Hi, some seem to think that stating that Myalgic Encephalopathy is incorrect and rude;

I think it is rude to use Myalgic Encephalopathy instead of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis as Myalgic Encephalopathy does NOT exist and is just another CBT way of removing and denying the existense of ME as a severe and very disabling disease.

Professor Erich D. Ryll: Infectious venulitis, ME and CFS are all Communicable Diseases

Erich D. Ryll, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine:

INFECTIOUS VENULITIS CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS Erich D. Ryll, M.D. Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine Division of Infectious & Immunologic Diseases University of California, Davis

HISTORY
In the spring and summer of 1975 there occurred a major, severe epidemic of a communicable, apparent viral disease at the Mercy San Juan Hospital in Carmichael, a suburb of Sacramento, California.

The first two cases became ill in February; the bulk of the cases fell ill between July and November of 1975. Several cases tailed out to 1978. The epidemic spread to all departments of the Hospital. It was equally severe in all departments. I was appointed chairman of a committee to investigate the outbreak. Fearing that some people might die, I asked that the CDC (Communicable Disease Center of Atlanta, Georgia) to become involved.

An epidemic intelligence officer of the CDC spent one week in residence, and an epidemiologist from the California State Department of Health, Berkeley, came for a day. Cultures were obtained for all known viruses, bacteria, mycoplasma, and rickettsiae, and all were found to be negative.

The disease was apparently due to an unknown agent, presumably a virus.

At the time we did a literature search and found three reports of outbreaks that were called EPIDEMIC PHLEBODYNIA (EP), meaning painful veins. While the disease at the Mercy San Juan Hospital (MSJ) was somewhat similar, it included many more features than were described in EP and so at the time I did not believe it was the same disease.

Additional literature search showed that the disease was very similar to EPIDEMIC NEUROMYASTHENIA/MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS (ENM/ME). But troublingly, very few vascular features were mentioned. I have followed these patients on a daily basis since 1975. This is the longest continual study of this type of disease that has ever been made. Because of this, I have learned all the nuances, all the signs and symptoms of the disease.

Because the complaints of patients are so many and often seemingly bizarre, I often attempted to disclaim them as being real. But I learned that you patients were always right and I was always wrong. In studying this disease, one must always have an open mind. This disease teaches the physician to be humble.

One must remember what a famous French physician, Jean Martin Charcot, said many years ago; "DISEASE IS VERY OLD AND NOTHING ABOUT IT HAS CHANGED. IT IS WE WHO CHANGE AS WE LEARN TO RECOGNIZE WHAT FORMERLY HAS BEEN IMPERCEPTIBLE." Read more>>

Bleach, Grandma Henrietta's weapon of mass destruction

By Denise Malloy, Chronicle Columnist, Saturday, March 26, 2011:

Grandma Henrietta declared a lifelong war on germs. Not only did she slap down a bout with polio like she would have a smart-mouthed teenager, she beat the 1918 influenza like Ali took down Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle.

Although Germ-Vendetta Henrietta wasn't even 5 feet tall in her special post-polio orthopedic shoes, she was the tough-as-nails Gen. Patton of microbe combat. And she would extrapolate his battle philosophy to home-front hygiene by saying that the war on germs is simple, direct and ruthless.

Her weapon of choice - bleach. As far as she was concerned there wasn't a microorganism that she couldn't bleach into submission.

Walking into her house was like walking into an indoor swimming pool where the humid smell of chlorine would sizzle the hair right out of your nostrils. There was no surface that was safe from being deodorized, sanitized or antibacterialized by her vigorous handiwork. Although you could rarely taste her ertwensoep or roggenbrood because the bleach fumes had vaporized the tastebuds right off your tongue, you could rest assured that it was served in a fashion that would earn an "A" from any health department in the country.

But Patton would remind you it takes more than one weapon to win a war. So it's no surprise that ... Read more>>

A brilliant idea to GET proper funding for a public health disaster

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) - request for assistance

by Marvin04, Published on 26th March 2011:

This may seem odd but let me explain. There is a huge group of people with a disease called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). For 30 years, the CDC and other Federal health organizations have done everything to damage research on our disease. The CDC gave the disease a most demeaning name FATIGUE so that it would NOT get any real attention or respect. Well, the CDC did a great job and the millions of very, very sick (bedbound/housebound) have gotten very little research money (under $4 million from CDC this year) and tiny amounts from HHS to NIH on any sort of research on us. Most of the valid research done on us comes from private researchers like the Whittemore-Peterson Institute (WPI) and others. The CDC has ensured that those of us with ME/CFS were made to look like lazy, crazy middle age women who were neurotic. Well, men and very young children are affected by ME/CFS and yes, we do die from this from heart disease, suicide, leukemia, lymphoma and die on average about 24 years earlier than the rest of the population.

There was a Retrovirus study done in the mid-late 1980's that showed there was another Retrovirus in addition to HIV - OUR Retrovirus. But the CDC destroyed replication and NIH stopped all further funding on this Retrovirus (Drs. Defrietas, Cheney, Bell) until just about three or so years ago when it was found that this Retrovirus (or part of its family) did in fact cause an aggressive form of Prostate cancer. The people at WPI picked the retrovirus study up and tested to see if people with ME/CFS might have the retrovirus --- and sure enough, the numbers came back very high. The FDA and NIH also did a replication study and found the numbers of ME/CFS sick that have the new Retrovirus to be even higher than the WPI/CC/NCI study! The CDC, as expected, did not find the retrovirus in our systems but they had forecasted that would be the case. Read more>>